SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
http://www.righto.com/2020/06/die-shrink-how-intel-scaled-down-8086.html
The revolutionary Intel 8086 microprocessor was introduced 42 years ago this month so I've been studying its die.1 I came across two 8086 dies with different sizes, which reveal details of how a die shrink works. The concept of a die shrink is that as technology improved, a manufacturer could shrink the silicon die, reducing costs and improving performance. But there's more to it than simply scaling down the whole die. Although the internal circuitry can be directly scaled down,2 external-facing features can't shrink as easily. For instance, the bonding pads need a minimum size so wires can be attached, and the power-distribution traces must be large enough for the current. The result is that Intel scaled the interior of the 8086 without change, but the circuitry and pads around the edge of the chip were redesigned.
The photo below shows an 8086 chip from 1979, and a version with a visibly smaller die from 1986.3 (The ceramic lids have been removed to show the silicon dies inside.) In the updated 8086, the internal circuitry was scaled to about 64% of the original size by length, so it took 40% of the original area. The die as a whole wasn't reduced as much; it was about 54% of the original area. (The chip's package was unchanged, the 40-pin DIP package commonly used for microprocessors of that era.)
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Monday June 29 2020, @08:30AM (2 children)
Yeah, I guess the difference is I lived through it and the trade rags were full of stories on how they shrunk the die, which processes worked and which didn't, etc.
It was interesting then and, I suppose if you're too young to have lived through it, it would be interesting now.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 29 2020, @10:08AM (1 child)
Go back to the Covid and politics articles then.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 29 2020, @02:14PM
TBH, I work at a publicly facing job and I'm rather sick of people talking about Covid. If I haven't already had it, I will get it at some point as the number of times I get exposed each week is just too high for me not to get it.
I'm definitely with you that having something, just about anything, that isn't covid related to think about is a nice diversion as covid and the related political nonsense are just too depressing.